Season 13 • Episode 1014

1014 - How the FDA Regulates Mifepristone, "the Abortion Pill"

Feb 23, 2026

11:50

Reproductive Rights Regulatory Affairs Public Health Pregnancy & Maternal Health

Episode Description

About this episode:

A recent analysis of FDA documents has found that the agency has historically regulated mifepristone—a medication commonly used to terminate pregnancy—based on available scientific evidence and without ideological bias. In this episode: Caleb Alexander, an author of the study, discusses these findings and their implications for a possible new review of the medication by FDA.

Guests:

Dr. G. Caleb Alexander, MS, is a practicing internist and drug safety expert at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Host:

Lindsay Smith Rogers, MA, is the producer of the Public Health On Call podcast, an editor for Expert Insights, and the director of content strategy for the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Show links and related content:

The US Food and Drug Administration's Regulation of Mifepristone—JAMA
Study: FDA Regulation of Abortion Drug Mifepristone from 2011 to 2023 Shaped by Evidence and Caution—Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
F.D.A. Decisions on Abortion Pill Were Based on Science, New Analysis Finds—New York Times
What Is Mifepristone, aka "The Abortion Pill"?—Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
What's at Stake for Access to Medication Abortion and the FDA in the Supreme Court Case FDA v. the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine?—KFF

Transcript information:

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